Team places 3rd at Allen County Invitational

By Cort Reynolds

LIMA BATH__The Bluffton High School wrestling team finished a strong third at the 11-team Allen County Invitational tournament on Saturday, December 20 at Bath.

Perennial power Allen East won the tournament with 257.5 points. Elida (237.5) came in second, while Bluffton finished a strong third with 216.5 points.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Three Pirate grapplers won their individual weight bracket titles.

Pirate junior Mason Shank won the heavyweight division. Sophomore Ronald Kaufman won the 120 lbs. crown, while junior Branden Cross took first in the 126 lbs. division.

In his pool, Shank was 2-0 with a pair of quick pins. Then in the four-man tournament, he posted a pin just 1:32 into the semifinals. In the championship bout, he rolled to another pin in just 69 seconds to finish 4-0 in the tourney.

Kaufman went 4-0 in his pool with three technical fall wins and one majority decision victory. There was no tournament in his bracket.

Cross was 2-0 with two pins in his preliminary pool. He then rolled through the eight-man tournament bracket in his weight class with three pins to capture the title and end up 5-0 on the day.

Three other Pirates finished second in their weight brackets.

Sophomore Alex Nance took second in the 132 lbs. class. He was 1-0 with a pin in preliminary pool play. In the quarterfinal bracket match, he won again via pin. In the semis, he triumphed with an 18-4 tech fall victory.

But in the championship round, he lost by a 17-4 decision to end up 3-1 on the day.

Bluffton senior Micah Rehm finished second in the 157 lbs. division. He was 2-0 in pool action, then recorded a pin in just 18 seconds in the quarterfinals. 

In the semis, Rehm won by tech fall before falling in the title round 16-1 to end up 4-1 at the event.

Sophomore Jesus Rivera also took second at the 190 lbs. bracket. He was 2-0 in pool action with a pair of pins averaging 1:29.5. In his semifinal tournament match, he won via pin in 2:44.

In the championship bout, Rivera was pinned in 55 seconds to finish second and 3-1 in the tourney.

Sophomore Hephaestion Weyer ended up fourth in the 138 lbs. class. He was 2-0 with a pair of pins in pool play. He lost in the semis, then fell by pin in the third-place match to end up fourth at 2-2.

Sophomore Braylin Freels-Aller came in fifth at the 215 lbs. division. He went 2-1 in preliminary pool play with two tech fall wins. He then won the semifinal match of the consolation bracket by pin in just 22 seconds.

In the fifth-place bout, he won by tech fall 17-2 to finish 4-1 on the day.

Freshman Hunter Beasley took sixth in the 144 lbs. division. He went 0-2 in pool play, but won his first consolation bout 4-0. But he then fell in the fifth-place match by pin.

Freshman Parker Kimmel was 1-3 in pool play at 150 lbs.

Bluffton is slated to wrestle next in the Defiance tournament Dec. 29-30.

Pirate Placers by weight class:

120:
1st Ronald Kaufman 10, Bluffton
2nd Langston McClain 9, Allen East
3rd Brody Sherrick 11, Elida
4th Kayden Hay*EL 9, X1
5th Gabe Ditto 9, Shawnee

126: 4x3 Placers
1st Branden Cross 11, Bluffton, Fall 3:23
2nd Corbin Phillips 11, Lima Senior
3rd Kesthan Jones 12, Shawnee, Dec 6-1
4th Kamar Morris 9, Elida
5th Ryan Hilgert 9, Bath, md21-7
6th Evan Suever 9, St. John's

132: 4x3 Placers
1st Kellen Wireman 10, Allen East, md17-4
2nd Alex Nance 10, Bluffton
3rd Josiah Shoup 9, Elida, Fall 1:23
4th Keith Noble*EL 12, X2
5th Luke Bear*LCC 9, X1, Fall 3:57
6th Kyllan Martin 10, Lima C.C.

138: 4x4 Placers
1st J.J. Declercq 11, Lima C.C., tf19-3
2nd Gavin Kirk 9, Elida
3rd Logan Miller 12, Del. Jefferson, Fall 4:11
4th Hephaestion Weyer 10, Bluffton
5th Lake Paxson 9, Allen East, Dec 9-4
6th Andrew Brodman*BL 10, X2

144: 2x4 Placers
1st Steven Emerick 10, Allen East, Fall 0:30
2nd Joey Sommers 10, Elida
3rd Hudson Gamber 10, Perry, Forfeit
4th Austin Owczarzak 12, Bath
5th Grant Hadding 9, Shawnee, Fall 2:14
6th Hunter Beasley 9, Bluffton

157: 4x3 Placers
1st Riley Mueller 12, St. John's, tf16-1
2nd Micah Rehm 12, Bluffton
3rd Chace Rhine 11, Elida, Dec 9-7
4th Leyton Parent 12, Del. Jefferson
5th Bentley Webb 10, Bath, Fall 1:51
6th Ethan Boulis*BAT 10, X3

190: 2x4 Placers
1st Zach Kreider 11, Shawnee, Fall 0:55
2nd Jesus Rivera 10, Bluffton
3rd Carter Johnson 11, Spencerville, Fall 1:38
4th Gary Kill 10, Allen East
5th Jean Daniel Sweeney 11, Elida, Fall 0:59
6th Jaxson Gruber*SH 10, X1

215: 4x4 Placers
1st Braylon Paxson 11, Lima C.C., Fall 2:24
2nd Braylon McNett 11, Spencerville
3rd Robert Anderson 10, Elida, Default
4th Jayden Johnson 9, Bath
5th Braylin Freels-Aller 10, Bluffton, tf17-2
6th Jackson Page 10, Shawnee

285: 2x4 Placers
1st Mason Shank 11, Bluffton, Fall 1:09
2nd Adrian Timmerman 11, Elida
3rd Ben Hawkins 10, Allen East, Fall 0:50
4th Hunter Lane*DJ 9, X1
5th Shawn Hauter 10, Del. Jefferson, Fall 2:21
6th Murat Akkoc 12, Lima C.C.

Allen County Invite team results:

1. Allen East 257.5 points

2. Elida 237.5

3. Bluffton 216.5

4. Shawnee 153.0

5. Spencerville 111.5

6. Bath 100.5

7. St. John's 98.5

8. Delphos Jefferson 96.0

9. LCC 81.5

10. Lima Senior 62.0

11. Perry 41.0

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